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A place for leftist discussionenTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:49:40 GMTvBulletin60http://www.revleft.org/vb/images/misc/rss.jpgRevLefthttp://www.revleft.com/vb/
Oliver Cromwellhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192469&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 19:45:04 GMTHaving came from an Irish family (albeit living in England) I have held a natural resentment to Cromwell, and from a young age I have been hearing...Having came from an Irish family (albeit living in England) I have held a natural resentment to Cromwell, and from a young age I have been hearing stories of how he declared that the Irish 'must go to Hell or to Connacht' (or something) and how his New Model Army were the perpetrators of the brutal sacking of Drogheda.

But the more I read on him the more my perspective changes. As a member of the minor gentry, who fought against the royalists in the English Revolution, was he not a true class revolutionary? Yes, I understand that he was some what responsible for the quashing of the Levellers and the Diggers, but surely if we are Marxists who believe in the materialist conception of history do we not accept that any attempts to build some sort of agrarian socialism in the 17th century would have been futile?

And on the subject of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, was England not the progressive force in that conflict? The supposedly independent Confederate Ireland were not only harbouring English royalists, but they themselves had pledged allegiance to Charles I! Furthermore, the Irish were also pretty staunchly linked to the Roman Catholic Church, which Engels described as the 'international centre of feudalism'. Is it not evident that the Irish ruling class were more reactionary than the English Parliamentarians?

I'm aware that this view may be quite controversial, but I am just keen to see what everyone else thinks about this...
]]>HistoryBITW434http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192469Criticism of Marxismhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192468&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 16:15:19 GMTI stumbled upon this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Prior to Cohen's work, historical materialism had not been regarded as a coherent view within English-language political philosophy. The antipathy is well summed up with the closing words of H.B. Acton's The Illusion of the Epoch: “Marxism is a philosophical farrago”. One difficulty taken particularly seriously by Cohen is an alleged inconsistency between the explanatory primacy of the forces of production, and certain claims made elsewhere by Marx which appear to give the economic structure primacy in explaining the development of the productive forces. For example, in The Communist Manifesto Marx states that: ‘The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production.’ This appears to give causal and explanatory primacy to the economic structure — capitalism — which brings about the development of the forces of production. Cohen accepts that, on the surface at least, this generates a contradiction. Both the economic structure and the development of the productive forces seem to have explanatory priority over each other.

If I understand the objection to Marxism in this case, it goes as follows: Marx said that the development of forces of production is the driving force of historical development. Once forces of production develop to such an extent that relations of production become a fetter, the revolution occurs. However, when Marx says ‘The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production.’, he is saying that its the bourgeoisie and social relations as such - capitalism - that develops forces of production so the primacy of which explains which seems reversed and so we have a theoretical contradiction.

Now I am not sure if I really understand where the supposed problem is. The forces of production do not develop upon themselves, in the last instance, it's still human beings that must act in order to develop them - consciously or unconsciously. So due to structural reasons (competition, law of value in general, etc) the bourgeoisie is forced to develop means of production. When they cease to do so, i.e. when relations of production (capitalism) becomes a fetter to further development of forces of production, then we have a revolution.

I know Cohen had a kind of idiosyncratic understanding of Marxism, but can someone explain to me where the alleged problem is and where my logic goes off the track?
]]>TheoryKill all the fetuses!http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192468Bus riders unionhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192467&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:42:46 GMTWe saw a documentary about the bus riders union in a socialist cafe here. Very interesting. Can you tell us more about this group? Are they...We saw a documentary about the bus riders union in a socialist cafe here. Very interesting. Can you tell us more about this group? Are they socialists? What is your thoughts about them?
]]>Viktor89http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192467http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192466&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 10:00:11 GMT

Quote:

Binyamin Netanyahu’s dramatic declaration to world leaders in 2012 that Iran was about a year away from making a nuclear bomb was contradicted by his own secret service, according to a top-secret Mossad document.

It is part of a cache of hundreds of dossiers, files and cables from the world’s major intelligence services – one of the biggest spy leaks in recent times.

Brandishing a cartoon of a bomb with a red line to illustrate his point, the Israeli prime minister warned the UN in New York that Iran would be able to build nuclear weapons the following year and called for action to halt the process.

But in a secret report shared with South Africa a few weeks later, Israel’s intelligence agency concluded that Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons”. The report highlights the gulf between the public claims and rhetoric of top Israeli politicians and the assessments of Israel’s military and intelligence establishment.

- The Guardian

It's situations like these that cause me to be less ill-disposed towards left-populist rhetorical strategies. I couldn't make a case against this using internationalist rhetoric that would be meaningful to my working class neighbors, but a left-nationalist argument can sell this here - essentially "this foreigner is manipulating us".

Shameful, I know. But if it works...
]]>PoliticsStirnerianhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192466Using Putinism as a rhetorical wedge; or, how to take revenge on Tailgunner Joehttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192464&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 04:29:04 GMTHolá.
I am an opportunist, and I have not the slightest qualm with being called such. To head any criticism from this direction off at the pass, I...Holá.

I am an opportunist, and I have not the slightest qualm with being called such. To head any criticism from this direction off at the pass, I fully embrace the term, as I think we cannot afford to be any less than ruthlessly pragmatic.

One argument I've found to be extremely effective in arguments with conservatives - including my own family - is to basically turn McCarthyism on its head. A particular example ought to suffice:

My grandmother is a vituperative racist and homophobe, and voices her opinion at every given opportunity. She is also old enough to remember the Second Red Scare, and has an animus against Russia for this reason. Her views are shaped less by anti-Communism - in truth she knows hardly anything about the Cold War at all - and more by a xenophobic Russophobia predicated on a vague sense of ethnic conflict.

I could take the time to try to dispel this particular form of false consciousness, but it would be a wasted effort: she would still vocalize - and vote - her more immediate prejudices. For a long time I was at a loss, until I hit upon the Putin argument.

Putin is of course a notorious homophobe, and I more or less went full McCarthy on her, showing her articles on-line about the laws the Russian regime enacted towards that effect. I further showed her the page on Wikipedia regarding Aleksandr Dugin's The Foundations Of Geopolitics[/url] and highlighted the section in which it mentions that one of Dugin's strategies for undermining the United States is to use white racism to fracture it politically.

This was about two months ago, and it more or less shut her up on domestic politics. I no longer have to hear (as if I voted for the man) about Obama being some kind of black radical, because she is terrified of giving some kind of aid or succor to Vladimir Putin.

This might very well be irrelevant to your revolutionary practice; at best I made her slightly more sympathetic to American reformism - I certainly did not radicalize the woman; neither did I try to.

But, as I said, I'm not above using one form of stupidity to combat another. I wonder if this approach would not work on a larger scale? I am quite surprised the Democratic reformists have not adopted it already, accusing social conservatives of being quietly pro-Putin (on the other hand, the Democrats are doubtless terrified of uttering anything so strong as that). And while it puts me in the uncomfortable position of implicitly relying on a patriotism I reject for my argument, it works.

Any ideas?
]]>PoliticsStirnerianhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192464Obama gave the Americans the ability to see how racist a lot white people arehttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192463&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 04:23:51 GMTWithout all the comments, remarks and insults by racist whites, many (even African-Americans) wouldn't know just how seething with hatred many whites are toward black people. But thanks to President Obama's administration, many Americans who would not have believed it otherwise get to see how some white people really are below the facade.

Is the greatest gift that President Obama gave the American people the ability to see how racist a lot white people really are?
]]>Discriminationgryphushttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192463March 5: ALL OUT in Solidarity with Venezuelan Revolutionhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192462&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 02:32:50 GMTMarch 5: ALL OUT in Solidarity with Venezuelan Revolution
Click HERE (http://www.solidarityweb.com/lists/lt.php?id=Lh8BCAYIGQZaDUhXD1QBAw) to...March 5: ALL OUT in Solidarity with Venezuelan Revolution

All Out Thurs ►March 5 for
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY Demonstrations with
The Bolivarian Revolution

It is a dangerous time for the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela.

The International Action Center urges the world wide anti-war and solidarity movement to intensify its solidarity with the Venezuelan people and its leadership. This solidarity is urgent.

Since the advent of the Bolivarian Revolution spearheaded by President Hugo Chavez who tragically died two years ago, Washington and the Venezuelan elite have worked nonstop to derail the progress made for working people in Venezuela.

President Nicolas Maduro has valiantly continued to carry out the legacy of the Revolution despite coup attempts, the hoarding of food and constant destabilization attempts from Washington and inside the country.

Venezuela's enemies will never reconcile itself to the will of the people and its leadership because they are attempting to build a society that benefits the poor and working class of Venezuela and not Wall Street.

These destabilization and extremely dangerous actions have escalated recently. Almost to the year after the start of violent street demonstrations known as guarimbas that attempted to overthrow the Maduro government and killed 43 people and injured hundreds, President Maduro revealed further dangerous plans against the government.

On Feb. 12, 2015 President Maduro informed the people that the government had dismantled another attack. He released details about recently discovered plans and the role of the U.S. government.

According to President Maduro, the coup was to unfold in three phases:

The first would be the publication of the "Program of the Transitional Government" in print, followed by the second phase, an attack with a Tucano fighter plane on the president's Miraflores Palace and more than a dozen other places, including government departments and the central station of Telesur, the Bolivarian media organization.
The third phase would be the publication of a "video of a general who had confessed and been convicted of a coup last year, who would report that a military force had revolted against President Nicolas Maduro and had overthrown him." (Telesur, Feb. 12)

This bodes ill for the Bolivarian Revolution, the working class of Venezuela and the world wide progressive movement.

We know what side Washington is on. Over 25,000 people have been killed in Honduras since 2009. The struggle for justice for 43 missing students along with the death and disappearances of tens of thousands in Mexico are a non-issue for the Obama administration. Why? Because in Honduras and Mexico, these deaths are of resistance fighters and people in struggle.

Washington allies itself with governments in Mexico and Honduras that have the blood of their people on their hands while at the same time it is attempting to overthrow the government of Venezuela. This shows once again that Washington's only aim in Latin America and the Caribbean is profits, domination and control for Wall Street.

The progressive movement must go all out to voice their opposition to destabilization attempts in Venezuela. A victory for the ruling elite there would be disastrous for the people of Venezuela and for the world.

On March 5 on the two year anniversary of the death of President Chavez, solidarity actions will be held in cities across the United States, in Venezuela, throughout Latin America and the world.

]]>Upcoming Eventsckaihatsuhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192462Why are conservatives opposed to multiculturalism and diversity?http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192459&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 01:26:31 GMTmulticulturalism and diversity are the greatest strengths in the universe. the more diverse america become the more powerful it becomes.
why are...multiculturalism and diversity are the greatest strengths in the universe. the more diverse america become the more powerful it becomes.

why are cons opposed to this though?
]]>Politicsgryphushttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192459Self-immolation by South Korean workerhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192458&goto=newpost
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 00:51:43 GMT---Quote---
*Self-Immolation Highlights Plight of South Korean contract Workers. *
A worker at a South Korean tire factory set himself ablaze...

Quote:

Self-Immolation Highlights Plight of South Korean contract Workers.

A worker at a South Korean tire factory set himself ablaze to protest the changing labor environment.

By Steven Denney

On Monday, February 16, Kim Jae-gi, an employee of Kumho Tires, set himself ablaze on top of a factory in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, in an act of symbolic protest against the irregularization of his company’s workforce. He left behind a letter in which he wrote: “Just because I died doesn’t mean the world of labor will change, but I hope, at least, our Kumho Tires will change.” The letter is reproduced in this Kyunghang Shinmun article (and elsewhere). Kumho Tires is a South Korean tire company headquartered in Gwangju.

In 2010, Kumho Tires negotiated a so-called “workout,” whereby most of its workforce would be converted from full time employess to contract workers. This process has been ongoing since then. Contract work is a considerably more volatile form of employment, with significantly fewer benefits and little to no job security. Because of this structural change to its labor force, the labor union (representing Kumho workers) is holding Kumho responsible for Kim’s death.

The labor union and management disagree over the reason behind Kim’s suicide, but it appears as if it was intended as a dramatic symbolic protest against changing working conditions. The protest need not be viewed in isolation, or as an act directed only at Kumho Tires.

As discussed elsewhere, the pressures of global capitalism have in many ways driven the deregulation of the South Korean labor market. In times past, when full-time or “life-time” employment was more common, one joined a company and stayed there for good (or at least for a very long time).

But with the spread of neo-liberal policies in the 1990s and major structural adjustments following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, employment has become both harder to find and more precarious. Last year, the ChosunIlbo reported that “non-regular jobs” in Korea are more common now than before: “The number of Koreans working on a contract basis rather than a full job stood at 6.08 million as of August [2014], up 2.2. percent.” Many of the workers taking these jobs, it is noted, are recent college graduates.

Of course, working conditions are a far cry from what they were in the 1960s and 1970s, when sweatshop-like working conditions at the Seoul Peace Market lead Jeon Tae-il, a workers’ right activist, to commit suicide by self-immolation in protest. But to make a direct comparison between Jeon and Kim (which readers may be inclined to do) is to miss the point.

Jeon committed suicide in protest of the social harms of rapid industrialization; Kim’s act is in opposition to the social dislocations of postindustrial capitalism. While both men intended to raise awareness of blue-collar working conditions, understanding the timing of each act is crucial. While Jeon’s sacrifice may not have meant much for workers in the industrial West, Kim’s protest against volatile working conditions will resonate with similarly frustrated Americans, Canadians, or Greeks.

The original article can be read here: http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/self-...tract-workers/
]]>Ongoing StrugglesMr. Piccolohttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192458Leftist Role-Models?http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192457&goto=newpost
Mon, 02 Mar 2015 22:41:21 GMTMany have their role models for a Leftist leader. Many include Che Guevara, Castro, Stalin, Lenin, and many more. I can never understand how someone...Many have their role models for a Leftist leader. Many include Che Guevara, Castro, Stalin, Lenin, and many more. I can never understand how someone can like these men (this is coming from a Leftist), they are all responsible for violence and inhumane treatment of people. My hero is Nelson Mandela, he never sparked a violent revolution but was still able to greatly change South Africa. Discuss your Leftist role models and explain why, and of course debate each other.
]]>Opposing Ideologiesmushroompizzahttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192457http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192456&goto=newpost
Mon, 02 Mar 2015 19:56:33 GMTI have to write an essay about non-proliferation from an international relation's theory, and I want to do Marxist international relations (obviously), but I don't really know how to approach it. What would be an interested research question from a Marxist perspective that can be answered and has some related literature?
]]>ResearchTim Cornelishttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192456Trigger Warning:LAPD Kills Homeless Black Manhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192454&goto=newpost
Mon, 02 Mar 2015 12:01:39 GMT---Quote---
Police officers shot and killed a homeless man in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday in a dramatic confrontation caught on video.
Five...

Quote:

Police officers shot and killed a homeless man in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday in a dramatic confrontation caught on video.

Five officers grappled on a pavement with a man known as Africa before shooting him five times in front of horrified onlookers.

The victim, whose full name has not been made public, was pronounced dead shortly after the encounter, which unfolded just before midday in skid row, a neighbourhood of homeless people and shelters close to the financial district.

Sergeant Barry Montgomery, an LAPD spokesman, told LA television station KTLA the incident would be fully investigated. “It’s going to be a long investigation and we will, you know, get to the bottom of it.” The department did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for elaboration.

People at the scene and on social media expressed shock that a scuffle on a busy street in broad daylight ended with lethal force, putting police violence under renewed scrutiny in the wake of protests over fatal encounters in Ferguson, New York and other cities.

People took to Twitter to link the cases. “Here we go. Again,” said @sanacardi. “When will this end??” said @CaileyCron.

Some called for a demonstration on Sunday night at Pershing Square, several blocks from the killing.

A report of an altercation between two people near East Sixth Street and South San Pedro at 11.36am prompted officers to the scene, said Jack Richter, an LAPD spokesman. They Tazered and then shot a man during a struggle, he said. One officer was reported slighty injured.

The video, which was posted on Facebook, showed officers grappling with a man beside what appeared to be an improvised tent and other homeless possessions. He resisted with flailing limbs.

A woman passing by scooped up a nightstick dropped by an officer. Two officers handcuffed her while their colleagues continued wrestling with the man.

A man – which appeared to be one of the officers – is heard instructing “Drop the gun, drop the gun,” after which five gunshots are fired. The officers stood back, some with guns drawn, and the homeless man lay motionless on the ground.

Onlookers gasped and remonstrated. “They just killed that man. They just shot that motherfuckin’ man like that,” said one.

Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of events. Dennis Horne, 29, told the Los Angeles Times that Africa had been fighting with someone else in his tent when police arrived.

When he refused to comply with a police order to emerge, officers Tasered and dragged him out, Horne said. They tackled him to the ground, where he continued to fight, until he was shot, said Horne. “It’s sad. There’s no justification to take somebody’s life.”

Another witness, Lonnie Franklin, 53, said Africa was lying face down on the pavement when officers arrived with guns drawn, yelling, “Down, down”.

When Africa got up and started resisting the officers “went straight to lethal force”, Franklin said.

Another witness, who asked not to be identified, told the paper the man punched and kicked the officers and reached for one of their service weapons.

Under a court agreement people are allowed to sleep on the streets from 9pm to 6am but must pack away tents in the daytime.

Another resident, Ina Murphy, who lives in a nearby apartment, said Africa had arrived in the area about four or five months ago. He told her he had recently been released after spending 10 years in a mental facility, Murphy said.

Steve Soboroff, the president of the police commission, which provides civilian oversight of the department, told reporters the key issue was whether the dead man did indeed lunge for an officer’s gun. Authorities were responding swiftly, he tweeted. “Thorough investigations by dept and our independent Inspector General proceeding simultaneously.”

Civilian oversight and other reforms have improved the LAPD’s fearsome image since 1992, when the videotaped beating of Rodney King set in motion riots two years later. But critics say the force remains prone to racism and unneccessary force.

Last November officers arrested hundreds of people who gathered downtown to protest the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...et-altercation
]]>PoliticsJuan Morenohttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192454Resources on Border Policieshttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192453&goto=newpost
Mon, 02 Mar 2015 08:32:40 GMTSo I was wondering if anyone had any good resources on the history of border policies between the US and Latin America, on open borders, on Operation...So I was wondering if anyone had any good resources on the history of border policies between the US and Latin America, on open borders, on Operation Streamline, on the Border Patrol, deportation, and things of that nature in general.
]]>LearningBrosa Luxemburghttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192453Sex Dynamics in the classroomhttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192451&goto=newpost
Mon, 02 Mar 2015 03:44:42 GMThttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/tat/pdfs/gender.pdfhttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/tat/pdfs/gender.pdf
]]>Redistribute the Rephttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192451Was the French revolution a bourgeois revolution?http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192450&goto=newpost
Mon, 02 Mar 2015 00:12:09 GMTAnd howso? Did it make bourgeois property rights? He seems to be adored by a lot of communists, so I'm not really sure why.

And what are other bourgeois revolutions in history?
]]>LearningMarxianSocialisthttp://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=192450